i had a dream –
the story of our father

very Martin Luther King of him, we know

Our distillery is dedicated to our father – who had quite an outrageous dream many moons ago. In his dream, our family had a wine estate, and the name of the wine produced in the old man’s dream, was – you guessed it – 9 Orphans. Why so ‘outrageous’ one might ask? Well, at that time we had only JUST moved to Cape Town – Vaalie-accent-and-all. We only knew two types of wine: ‘Red’ and ‘White’ …both of which we drank with ice! Needless to say, at that time, we knew little to nothing of the (now well revered) fruit of the vine, and we certainly did not own a vineyard.

But what we did have, was curiosity and blind ambition, which were more than enough to uphold what might have seemed like a crazy endeavour.

our sibling story
& journey to distilling

his dream + our hobby – turned out to be a dream-job

As our palates developed and we learnt the difference between a ‘Cab Sav’ and Sauvignon Blanc (don’t judge), we developed an appreciation for the art of winemaking….and beyond. This opened up a world of new horizons – and eventually it was the beauty of distilling that completely hooked us.

We’ve put in the blood, sweat and tears, jumped through hoops and went through all the motions to obtain relevant qualifications and gain invaluable experience in viticulture and distilling – both nationally and internationally. But it is the collective esteem for this craft that have dictated our very hands-on approach throughout the entire process. From foraging and picking the ingredients by hand, to carefully overseeing each step of the production and post-production process, and, alas, tasting, tasting, tasting.

And so our venture into distilling took flight, with our father’s dream being kept alive as we aptly named the distillery 9 Orphans. Now, from our rad new location amongst vineyards, on one of Stellenbosch’s oldest Wine Estates, we raise a glass (albeit gin) and salute him.